cooking without any fat

[meemee]

anyone cooking without using any fat?

any techniques or recipes to compare.

any advice/tricks most welcome.

i need to challenge myself. i was getting into a rut with cooking. someone recommended going any kind of fat free (i am mostly a veggie, sometimes lacto and rarely meatitarian) so i am gonna try it. i dont mean using fat free stuff. but just going without oil or butter for a couple of weeks to see how addicted to food i am. 

[phathui5]

I'm really curious about why one would want to go without fat. Fat is an important part of a healthy diet. There are fat-soluble vitamins that your body simply cannot absorb if you don't have fat in your diet. I can't imagine that going without fat (unless you're talking about Frankenfoods like margarine) could be good for you.

[meemee]

trying to get away from all processed foods. 

perhaps this article might help http://www.livestrong.com/article/519664-do-vegetables-contain-fat/

[onlyzombiecat]

Originally Posted by meemee 

trying to get away from all processed foods. 

perhaps this article might help http://www.livestrong.com/article/519664-do-vegetables-contain-fat/

Are you saying you intend to avoid those vegetables that have fat?  Or do you just want to cook without adding any oil or butter to your food?

I think it is hard to eat a no fat diet. You can certainly limit the amount of fat you add when you cook though.

What types of things will you be cooking?

Some cooking methods don't need fat added. Grilling, poaching, broiling, steaming, braising, and microwaving for example.

http://lowfatcooking.about.com/od/lowfatbasics/a/cookmethods.htm

http://www.nutritionmd.org/nutrition_tips/nutrition_tips_go_vegetarian/lowfat_cooking.html

http://lowfatcooking.about.com/od/lowfatbasics/qt/20waystolowfat.htm

http://www.bettycrocker.com/tips/tipslibrary/baking-tips/healthy-baking-tips-low-fat-substitutions

[pek64]

Fat is necessary. Especially omega-3. Unless you have a health reason, or feel you are eating too much fried foods, I'd not worry about how much fat is in my diet, but make sure the fats are healthy fats.

[meemee]

Originally Posted by onlyzombiecat 

Or do you just want to cook without adding any oil or butter to your food?

This

I think it is hard to eat a no fat diet. You can certainly limit the amount of fat you add when you cook though.

yes you are right. it will be hard. esp. since i LOVE butter and coconut oil.

What types of things will you be cooking?

vegetarian/vegan. i mostly roast or do stove top cooking. i am doing it for two reasons. neither of them is more important than the other. one is more challenge with cooking. can it be done AND make food taste good without going on a pure raw diet. secondly health reasons. for both dd and me. me to see if it affects my prediabetes and prehypertension (genetic) and dd's tummy aches. we've tried a lot of things for her. she does get anxiety tummy aches but they are different. we'll see if this has any effect. 

i was looking up the nutrition in oils and realised hey there is no nutritional value in oil. AND there IS fat in all the veggies we eat. and nuts and high fat plant food like avocado. so. do i really need to have fat to cook with. can i caramalize onions in their own juices.

i have cooked beans without any fat. chillies with no fat. made that lentils recipe i got here with tamari and maple syrup with no fat. i've steamed veggies and just added lemon and salt and pepper and they tasted good (however these were freshly picked local organic veggies so didnt need much flavoring). 

[meemee]

Originally Posted by pek64 

Fat is necessary. Especially omega-3. Unless you have a health reason, or feel you are eating too much fried foods, I'd not worry about how much fat is in my diet, but make sure the fats are healthy fats.

i am not sure i buy into that either. i get plenty of omega 3s through flaxseed meal and walnuts. 

i am extremely fortunate to have access to fresh veggies. so we've been cutting out a lot of processed stuff out of our diet. including juices. and then i realised hey oil is the same thing - sorta kinda like juice. except does it really have any nutritional value by itself?!!!!

[pek64]

There is a need for fat. I'm not sure where you saw it has no nutritive value. There are vitamins that are carried in fat. Fat is actually a component of bone. Without it, bones are brittle. Your brain has a lot of fat in it. Your brain cells and nerve cells are coated and that coating contains fat. To maintain good health, you need a balance of everything, including fat.

Instead of butter, a saturated fat, try olive oil, a mono-unsaturated fat. That is a healthy substitution. Coconut oil is also a saturated fat, although plant based. Some saturated fat is needed, so don't rule it out altogether.

I would recommend avoiding deep frying, if you do that. Stir fries are fine. You can do a water saute on occasion. But I would be careful about doing an extreme removal of fat. I did that about ten years ago, and drastically cut back on salt, too. I have health problems now that were caused by those choices. Proceed carefully.

[meemee]

oil, butter has no nutritive quality by itself. sure your body needs fat to do its job and carry the vitamins in your body. but you get that naturally in food IF you eat a well balanced diet. 

when you cut back fat did you focus on a good diet? not trying to be sarcastic here. seriously looking at this. i am not talking about a low fat diet where you substitute low fat items. <shudder>

plus the other factor. i am descended from a family of vegetarians - mostly vegans - for generations so i might be safe here (you know its like japanese women can eat sushi throught out their pregnancy and nothing affects them as they have a natural immunity due to generations of eating raw fish).

however i am curious to know what your health issues are due to the lack - if you dont mind me asking and posting on a public board. did you cut out fats completely, or did you substitute fats? by fats i mean oil and butter. 

however i will proceed carefully. i dont expect dd to join me - she eats out enough to not be on my diet as we share custody. but i will encourage her to join me to see if it affects her stomach issues. if she doesnt want to - that's ok with me. 

did you feel anything different when you were on the no fat diet. were there any warning signs?

btw i have never been able to tolerate deep fried food. it makes me sick and nauseous. not even french fries or a big bag of chips. though i love them.

Edited by meemee - 11/10/12 at 10:31am

[pek64]

I'd rather not go into too many details. What I did was foolish. No fake fat substitutions. Just a continual decrease
That's all I'm comfortable saying.

[kitchensqueen]

If you're interested in cooking with less fat, a non-stick skillet will help. I generally don't use non-stick skillets because Teflon scares the crap out of me, but I do have one that I use for pancakes and omelettes. A lot of recipes call for searing meat in a little oil or butter, but if you use a non-stick skillet you don't need to use any fat. And in baking, like cakes and muffins, you can generally reduce the fat by a third and you'll still get a decent result. Granted, the end product will be a bit drier and a little less flavorful, but it'll still be fairly decent. 

[phathui5]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/treatments/healthy_living/nutrition/dietary_vitfat.shtml

http://www.livestrong.com/article/451292-why-do-we-need-fats-in-our-diets/

"Fat provides energy, cushions your organs and allows the body to absorb necessary nutrients such as vitamins A, D, E and K."

[meemee]

Originally Posted by phathui5 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/treatments/healthy_living/nutrition/dietary_vitfat.shtml

http://www.livestrong.com/article/451292-why-do-we-need-fats-in-our-diets/

"Fat provides energy, cushions your organs and allows the body to absorb necessary nutrients such as vitamins A, D, E and K."

ok so let me see if i can explain myself.

so lets say a person needs 2000 calories a day. the general rule of thumb is 20 - 30% of that should be about 600 calories from fat.

a medium avocado has 260 calories just from fat.

1/4 cup of almonds has 120 calories from fat

1/4 cup of cashews has 110 calories from fatand

1/4 cup fresh green olives has 50 calories from fat

so just by eating those things in one day i would go over the amount of fat a 2000 calorie person should eat. so any fat in any form that the person added to their food would be extra unneccesary fat. i am not even counting the fat from other fruit and vegetables and beans (talking about vegan diet here). 

[phathui5]

I don't think that I would count any of the fat in vegetables as fat. It's digested differently and I feel like I can confidently say that no one got fat from too many vegetables:

http://www.askdrsears.com/?q=topics/family-nutrition/vegetables/7-reasons-why-veggies-are-so-good-you

[meemee]

Originally Posted by phathui5 

I don't think that I would count any of the fat in vegetables as fat. It's digested differently and I feel like I can confidently say that no one got fat from too many vegetables:

http://www.askdrsears.com/?q=topics/family-nutrition/vegetables/7-reasons-why-veggies-are-so-good-you

yup yup yup. but then you ARE getting the fat so you dont need any other fat. i guess what dr sears is talking about is just vegetables and fruit which do add up if you eat the right amount. some beans have high fat like garbanzo beans. and you want teh good kinds. so dont eat too much brazil nuts as they have saturated fats too. walnuts and pecans have a LOT of fat too. 

animal and dairy have the bad fats as well as butter substitutes that raise our bad cholestrol too. 

i am more concerned about diabetes, heart and cancer rather than losing weight. 

[pek64]

Cancer has been a serious issue among my relatives. Sugar has been a common factor among those who had it, more than fat. I keep sugar consumption low, as an adult. As a child, I didn't know better. And I don't use artificial sweeteners, either. Primarily fruit and fruit juice. I would think the same approach would help with diabetes, too. Sugar avoidance, not fat, to reduce your risk. Maybe you should talk this over with a nutritionist.

[meemee]

with cancer (and i have many friends at that place too) its a combination of both - sugar and fat.

the thing why i bring up fat is because sugar is not a big factor for me. i am not really into sugary stuff (including fruit juice which i feel is another version of soda too - just not quite as bad, but bad enough) so its never been a big part of my diet.

but oh boy oil and fats and flour have been.

i have spoken to both nutritionist and dietician (not for myself but for others) and they say its good, BUT really hard to do. i mean they are shocked that less than 10% of my diet is any kind of processed food.

i think science is now on the crossroads of declaring fats bad too. not just too much fat, but fats in general. and not just related to weight but other issues too - its impact on diabetes for instance https://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2009a/090225ChengFatcancer.html

[pek64]

Fats have been considered bad by my mother from my teen years. And her health has deteriorated since going low to no fat. If you want to experiment on yourself, fine. But please be careful. Make sure children still get enough fat. And I urge caution to anyone who reads this thread.

Edited to add : http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CD0QFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mombu.com%2Fmedicine%2Fcancer%2Ft-study-finds-low-fat-diet-wont-stop-cancer-or-heart-disease-diabetes-carbohydrates-calories-low-fat-diet-9901653.html&ei=YRekUJrUMYSUjALmhoD4BQ&usg=AFQjCNF2asgUL8k8CCJsR8wlqsOY4nN02g

[elus0814]

Saying that fat has no nutrition is false. A low fat diet isn't healthy and can be dangerous for children. http://www.naturalnews.com/001545_dietary_fat_good_fats.html

[meemee]

let me clarify. outside fat like butter, oils - have no nutritional value. remember apart from olive oil - all other vegetable oils are fairly modern inventions. 

man did not cook with fat. yes they did eat fat, and yes there were vegetarians who did not use any animal fats or oils.

there is enough fat 'in food' even for a vegan/vegetarian to not rely in outside sources for fat, PROVIDED they eat a good diet where they get their omega 3s and omega 6s from beans, veggies and nuts and seeds. 

and yes this is not me talking. this is my nutritionist talking. you get your omega3s from where the cows get it. they get it from grass, we get it from dark green leafy vegetables. how many of us eat kale, collards, mustard greens that often? 

shocking isnt it?!!!! if you look up links and look at what nutritional value butter, any other oils have you will come across zilch. except for the different types of fat of course. 

but of course king corn, the dairy industry dont want you to know that. the baking industry is  not going to let go of the profits coming in either.